Social media like catnip for the brain, says neuroscientist

Twitter is like catnip for the brain, while Google can actually make us smarter, says neuroscientist Dr David Eagleman. Dr Eagleman works from his lab at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, where he looks at big picture issues including what it means to be human, to think, to be conscious. Author of a new book, The Brain: The Story of You, he is credited with spawning a new spiritual movement known as “Possibilianism” (anything’s possible, even God). Dr Eagleman was at the Web Summit to talk about how modern communications technology, including social media, is changing how we think, but also pushing our primal instinct buttons. “We are wired to seek social affirmation from peers and that exquisite social aspect is what has allowed us to form…